Speaker Nabih Berri stated on Thursday that Lebanon’s policy of distancing itself from the developments in the Arab world has preserved the Lebanese people’s interests.

He said: “Lebanon’s positive neutrality on all issues, except those related to Israel, has protected the country’s interests.”

Houses in southern Lebanon are a storage facility for missiles or rockets or a launch pad which are destructive and could hit the heart of the Israeli cities, Israel's chief of military intelligence, General Aviv Kochavi, warned on Thursday at a security conference.

Intelligence estimates, he said, showed "one in every 10 houses in south Lebanon is a storage facility for missiles or rockets or a launch pad for devices that are increasingly accurate and destructive."

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized on Thursday the performance of the cabinet, calling on its members to resign and urging the formation of a technocrat government.

“Any member of this cabinet that respects himself should submit his resignation,” Geagea said during a press conference in Maarab.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Thursday that he is keen on safeguarding Lebanon and its constitution.

He said during a ceremony on the expansion of the Tripoli Port: “Lebanon will not become a victim of powers seeking to split the spoils.”

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon ad interim Robert Watkins said Thursday that Hizbullah has stressed the need to continue its dialogue with the world body.

In remarks to al-Mustaqbal daily, Watkins said that despite the party’s frustration from some of the remarks made by U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon during his visit to Beirut last month, Hizbullah has expressed its respect for “the integrity of the U.N. and the necessity to keep the dialogue open.”

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil slammed on Thursday the decision taken by Prime Minister Najib Miqati over the appointment of top civil servants in the state.

“We refuse to become part of those who consider what the PM demands is sacred and the cabinet should abide by it, especially regarding the appointments issue,” Bassil told An Nahar newspaper.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed that the suspension of cabinet sessions falls within his constitutional rights, noting that he aims to push all the members to act responsibly and positively.

Miqati said on his twitter account after the president decided to suspend session at Baabda palace under the premier’s request that the suspension “falls within the PM's Constitutional prerogatives, especially when there's quorum.”

Four gunmen kidnapped a Syrian businessman as he crossed into Lebanon from the Masnaa border checkpoint in the Bekaa valley on Wednesday, the National News Agency reported.

NNA said that the four men intercepted the BMW 530 of Mohammed al-Jabi, 55, and kidnapped him at gunpoint. The car’s Syrian license plate is 976145.

The head of the Democratic Renewal Movement, former MP Nassib Lahoud, passed away at dawn Thursday after a long battle with illness. He was 68.

Lahoud, who was a lawmaker between 1991 and 2005, died at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Ashrafiyeh.

The Trial Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has decided to try the four men accused in the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri in absentia, the STL said on Wednesday in a statement.

“The Trial Chamber examined numerous documents from the Tribunal's Prosecutor (Daniel Bellemare) and the Lebanese Prosecutor-General (Saeed Mirza), which detail the steps taken by the Lebanese authorities to apprehend the accused and inform them about the proceedings,” the Hague-based court said.